Getting ready for Evan

By Lawrence Champness

Cyclone Evan is bearing down on Fiji. Thousands of people have fled to evacuation centres as authorities have warned people to brace for the worst from the category four cyclone. Evan is 480 kilometres wide and with wind gusts of up to 200 kilometres per hour, making it the strongest cyclone to hit Fiji since 1993.

Power outages and flooding have been experienced, flights have been cancelled and people are doing the best they can to get shelter.

Kylie Walker is an Australian staying at a Hotel near Nandi and spoke to 702 ABC Sydney's John Morrison about being in the middle of Cyclone Evan at about 16:20 AEST.

If you listen to the audio you can even hear the whistle of the Cyclone in the background.

John Morrison started by asking Kylie Walker what it currently looked like outside her hotel window.

"Very, very strong winds, they have been like this for several hours now...

There are a number of coconut palms outside that are bending in the wind. A few minutes ago one of the hotel's noticeboard went spinning past the window as well. The wind has not abated for some time now. It has been intensifying.. I don't know if you can hear the whistle of it...

I'm feeling quite safe watching it from in our hotel room. I do feel for the people in the rest of Fiji who don't have access to structures this solid. I lost vision of the sea a couple of hours ago. People have been moving to our resort for the last couple of days." said Walker.